Comfort for Parents Enduring Difficult Times with Their Child... "You Are Doing Well Enough Right Now"

Professor Kim Hyowon, Department of Psychiatry, Seoul Asan Hospital
Publishes 'The Time When a Mother's Heart Grows'
Depicts Healing Process of Mothers and Children Met in Clinic Over 20 Years

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] 'A child who calls her grandmother "mom," a mother who tears up her child's suicide note, a child expressing affection through physical symptoms, a mother hoping for her child's understanding...'

A psychiatrist specializing in child and adolescent mental health has compiled stories of mothers and children she has personally met over more than 20 years in her clinic, capturing their growing pains in a book.

Professor Kim Hyo-won of the Department of Psychiatry at Seoul Asan Medical Center recently published "The Time When a Mother's Heart Grows," aiming to offer comforting messages to parents struggling with parenting through cases where she counseled mothers and children, solving problems and growing together.

Divided into four parts?▲Mothers are also growing as mothers ▲To discover the child's shining inner self ▲Children climbing onto my back ▲Mothers are imperfect people?this book contains the entire process of a mother raising a child while returning to her own childhood, confronting the inner child within, soothing that wounded child, and navigating through the current issues of her own child.

The author, Professor Kim, explains that a child's problems are not separate from the parents but become core family issues, so counseling for both child and parent is usually necessary. She also emphasizes that taking care of oneself is as important as helping one's child.

Professor Kim Hyowon, Department of Psychiatry, Asan Medical Center, Seoul.

In addition to treating children at the hospital, Professor Kim has participated in groups for mothers of children with ADHD, mothers of children with Asperger's syndrome, mothers raising children with developmental delays, and mothers undergoing treatment for breast cancer. She has included in her book the countless stories she has directly seen and heard from many mothers over time.

Professor Kim said, “Child and adolescent psychiatrists basically side with the child. While helping and persuading mothers to look into their child's heart, as we talk about the child's problems, we come to understand the mother's heart like a friend who has walked a long, difficult gravel road together.” She added, “This book contains stories about such mothers' hearts. Raising a child is inherently difficult and challenging. I hope this book offers comfort to mothers who are on that hard and tough path.”

Professor Kim graduated from Seoul National University College of Medicine and chose child and adolescent psychiatry after seeing children who had closed their hearts open up to the world through expert counseling. She is currently a professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Seoul Asan Medical Center, comforting the hearts of children and their parents.